


Teach Me?

by BannedBookReader



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Just a fun idea of La'gaan being a mentor to Garth's kid, Next-Gen, at the end tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:14:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23387956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BannedBookReader/pseuds/BannedBookReader
Summary: "Teach me!"His smile faltered for just a second. Garth's youngest was... a handful to say the least. Adding in magic to that? It seemed like a bad idea. But then again, she'd definitely be taught by someone eventually. "I suppose I could show you a few small things."
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah so in the comics where he has a daughter Garth really did name her Tula. I uh...can't explain that. 
> 
> Tula the Second first appeared in Kingdom Come #3
> 
> Cricket first appeared in Red Robin #24

"Show me!" A grin was practically splitting the young girl's face in two. Her purple pupils dilated, surround by black irises. She was almost bouncing in the water, pushing it out around her.

"Okay, okay!" La'gaan laughed before pushing away slightly. He eyed the excited ten year old kneeling in the sand for just a second. Then he puffed up, his icons lighting up in the dull sea. He released the spell just as quickly as he'd brought it up. "Happy?" 

"Teach me!" 

His smile faltered for just a second. Garth's youngest was... a handful to say the least. Adding in magic to that? It seemed like a bad idea. But then again, she'd definitely be taught by someone eventually. "I suppose I could show you a few small things." 

"No." She pushed up off the sand and held her arms out in a mimicry of his specialty. 

"Minnow... body modification is very advanced-" At the word "advanced" she was gone. He felt a cold finger tap on his shoulder from behind. Twisting around he saw that she had a jet black eyebrow up as if to say "how's that for advanced". He resisted a sigh. "Yes, that's impressive. But, it's not a spell. It's a genetic ability that stems from your family's magic. That's different." 

She crossed her arms over her chest. One green and scaly, the other uncomfortably pale and veiny. Her lips were pursed, largely unimpressed by his statement.

He ran his own hand down his face. "Look. Can you build a fort in the sand without a base?" 

"No?" 

"Exactly. You have to work up from the bottom. Otherwise the fort falls down and you can get hurt." Slowly her arms fell to her sides. Understanding reluctantly taking over her face. 

"But...you'll teach me?" 

"If that's what you want Minnow. But," He'd come a long way with his insecurities over the years, but every so often one would rear its ugly head. "Why not ask your father?" 

She rolled her eyes like it was the dumbest thing she'd heard in her whole life. "He makes the water cold." She said it with so much disdain he couldn't help but laugh. Garth did a lot more than "make the water cold", he was terrifyingly powerful, and if he weren't so anxious all the time? He'd be unstoppable. 

"I think he's a bit more talented than that." La'gaan decided to toss his friend a bone. Defend him in his absence. 

"He can make it hot too." 

"Alright," He was full on grinning now. "I see your point." He really didn't.

"So...you'll teach me?" 

"Why not?" 

He jumped a little when she launched herself at him. Wrapping strong arms around his neck. "You won't regret this!" Her rarely used voice was muffled by the side of his head. 

As it turned out, there were several times La'gaan had sorta regretted it. Usually when Cerdian had become a target for their younger sister's "practice". Or when she decided to liven up a particularly boring situation. Or the one, exactly _one_ , time he'd asked for her help in archiving some artifacts for the Conservatory. But only once, a few years later, had he _actually_ regretted it. 

Getting stuck with monitor duty _sucked_. Like. Alot. But having a surprise 13 year old land on his lap wasn't exactly the exciting event he'd been hoping for to break up his boredom. She grinned up at him sheepishly. 

" _Tula_ what are you doing?!" 

He only got a shrug in response. She hopped off his lap and only stumbled a little gaining her footing. She'd been to the Surface a few times now, and seemed to have the hang of the different gravity for the most part. 

"Seriously Minnow. You can't be here-"

"I'm not a minnow." She was surveying the sleek room they were currently occupying. More high tech computer than room in all honesty. Visually it was uninteresting if you didn't care about that sort of thing. Which she clearly didn't. 

La'gaan leaped out of his seat when he watched her approach the door. "I'm sorry. You're right, you aren't a minnow anymore. But I'm also right and you can't be here." 

She stopped in her tracks but only looked over her shoulder at him. An eyebrow raise that he'd learned long ago meant "why". 

"I've told you about the Team?" 

She gave a small nod in response. 

"This is their base. People can't just walk in. It's dangerous. You need permission. Please just go back to Poseidonis. If you want me to show you the Surface-" 

The blaring intruder alarm and flashing red lights cut him off. The, now wide eyed, girl pointed a finger at her chest, both eyebrows close to her hairline. 

"No, I don't think this is you. Go. Now." There was no more negotiation in his voice. He turned away from her, a show of trust more than anything, and started switching the monitors over to the in house security. From the looks of it he was the only one in the Tower. A quick glance over his shoulder seemed to reinforce that fact. Tula was gone. Good. But the alarms had to be sounding for a reason. 

He clicked away at the screens, and then he saw him. A kid. Looking directly into the camera, a sick grin spread out on his face. It was a _dare_. La'gaan narrowed his eyes at the camera. He wasn't one to jump into an obvious trap. But as long as this kid was going to keep staring at the camera, he might as well run a facial recognition scan. 

_Match:  
Name: Unknown  
Alias: Cricket  
Occupation: Assassin  
Age: 10 _

La'gaan felt his heart catch. Ten? Neptune's beard...

He looked back at the screen. The white and green haired boy was gone. Shit. He switched through the cameras again until he found him in the armory. How he'd gotten in was a question for another time. La'gaan darted out of the room, confident that his student had returned to the water. 

This was obviously a trap, it had to be, but he couldn't let an assassin collect whatever he wanted from the armory. Even if the assassin was a ten year old boy. By the time he'd made it to the room the kid was gone, and so was at least one sword. He ran a hand down his face. So that's how this was going to be. 

He pulled his phone out and logged in to view the cameras. Cricket was sitting on the island in the kitchen, looking over his prize. The sword reflected in the camera. But that's not what caught his eye. No, kneeling in the corner of the kitchen, clutching a water bottle was Tula. If Cricket knew she was there he didn't seem to be acknowledging that fact. But if anyone knew how quite she could be, it was La'gaan. He was down the hall like a dart, critical thinking falling to the wayside. His goal now was simple, keep that kid away from her. 

Why had she stayed? Why had she come? When they made it out of this he was _definitely_ sitting her down in front of her parents and laying into her. 

He slid into the kitchen 100% ready to throw hands with a ten year old. 

The well dressed kid looked up from the sword, staring at La'gaan through tented goggles. 

"So there _are_ heroes here! Good. I'd hate to lose a contract cause you all are lazy."

"Contract?" La'gaan did his best not to look over at the girl. But he knew she was there. And she knew he did. He was familiar enough with her magic at this point to be able to feel it in the air. 

"Sure!" Cricket hopped off the island, swinging the weapon in random directions. It was so childish it made La'gaan's heart weap. "For everyone I kill in this Tower, the Light doubles my paycheck! Can you believe that!? To bad it's lazy Saturday or something." He started to look around the open kitchen, coming dangerously close to the small framed girl. 

"But why?" 

Cricket whipped his head back around to look at La'gaan, and the relief he felt was immediate. "Why not?" And then the kid moved impossibly fast for a non-speedster. He jumped kicking La'gaan in the chest with both feet before pushing off. The Atlantean stumbled back, absorbing the force of the kick the best he could. When the assassin tried to jump and kick again, La'gaan managed to catch him by an ankle. Unfortunately he still had the sword and swung it at La'gaan's face. He ducked back to prevent getting slashed. For the first time in 13 years, he heard Tula gasp. 

Cricket wasted no time identifying the source of the noise. La'gaan barely had time to process the child swinging the sword down on Tula's head. He started to yell, but then he felt familiar hands dig into his sides. 

"What the-" Cricket straightened up and looked at the empty corner for a good few seconds. 

"Stay behind me Min-, just if you're going to be here, stay behind me." He felt her hands fall away from his sides. Please, _please_ , let her go back home. 

Cricket had recovered from his momentary shock. He was back on them in a blink of the eye. Later La'gaan would probably feel bad about punching a kid in the head, right now though it was oddly satisfying. He stumbled backwards, clearly surprised. The surprise only worsened when a small hard water blast smacked him in the chest knocking him back even further. 

La'gaan looked over his shoulder. Tula seemed just as surprised as Cricket. But now the water bottle was empty. Why hadn't she made a shield? Why hadn't he told her to make a shield? 

Cricket was at her throat, a small stream of blood running down the side of his head. "In another life we might have been f-" 

La'gaan didn't give him a chance to finish his sentence. Tossing the young assassin aside. Much to his dismay however Tula was ontop of Cricket landing a scary amount of blows directly to his face. La'gaan scooped his young...protege?, off the boy. The assassin's blood dripped off her hands. Her nonscaled hand split at the knuckles, and already bruising. 

The rage melted off her face. Instead it was replaced with a sickening blend of shame and shock. It seemed Cricket was down for the count as she took a few unsteady steps back. 

"It's okay. Everything is okay-" He was cut off the sudden movement from behind him. He had just enough time to push the small girl out of the way before the blade went through his shoulder. He was hoping the kid was either dumb enough, or sadistic enough to leave the blade, but unfortunately it was ripped from his body with just as much force. 

But it seemed the multiple blows to the head had slowed the kid down some. 

"La'gaan!" He winced at M'gann's voice, an unfortunate habit really, but not one that was going away anytime soon. Then the assassin was floating in the air, swinging wildly at the unseen force holding him up. 

La'gaan turned back to Tula who was staring at him wide eyed. Slowly she reached up and touched his heavily bleeding shoulder. "I... I'm fine Minn-...Tula..." Why was it so hard to talk all of sudden? He hadn't lost _that_ much blood had he? 

Then the girl was gone. And in a way so La'gaan. 

When he woke up in the med bay his first thought was of his student. 

"La'gaan! You can't-" Tim started to protest but La'gaan kept walking. He was fine, and he needed to make sure Tula was too. She was as stubborn as her namesake and if she was hurt? It was unlikely she'd tell someone instead of trying to fix it herself. Tim followed him all the way to the Zeta Tube, arguing the whole time.

"See ya later Chum." La'gaan waved with his good arm, causing the Bat to toss his hands in the air. Once he'd teleported to the Palace he took a second to get his head to stop spinning. One of his arms was in a sling but at least he'd been patched up. He had no idea how long he was unconscious, but every second was a second too many. 

He made his way through the Palace checking her usual hiding spots. 

"She's not here." Cerdian's voice spooked La'gaan more than he'd like to admit. He turned around to face the teenager. Their white, almost silver, hair was pulled up into a sloppy bun, the one tuft of black falling over purple eyes. 

"How did-"

"I've been following you around. You need a doctor." Cerdian's eyes landed on the bandages. 

"I'm fine Minnow! Truly!" La'gaan knew he wasn't being convincing. "Do you know where she is?" 

"Haven't seen her." 

"Well... I'm going to go now..." He received a shrug in response. 

Glancing at his bandages it was obvious he'd opened up his stitches. But he'd had so much worse, and it was possible Tula was just as injured as him. Even if it was just mental. Clearly he was off his game though if he didn't know he was being followed. Granted being uncomfortably quite seemed to run in their family, at least on their mother's side. 

"Yeesh! What happened to you?" Koryak frowned at him from his seat in a study. Sometimes La'gaan would find Tula stacking old books in strange ways in here.

"What? N-nothing...have you..." The room was spinning. He just needed a moment was all. But the bastard Prince didn't seem convinced. La'gaan tried to put up a fight but Koryak managed to drag him the Royal Doctor instead. He was just barely aware of the lecture he was receiving while she fixed his stitches. 

"I need to go find Tula." 

The Doctor pulled away glaring at him. "You have two options. Go home and rest. Or I drug you and the Prince takes you home to rest." 

La'gaan barely had the "try me" out his mouth before she was injecting him with some sort of sedative. The last thing he remembered was Koryak's surprised laugh. 

When he regained consciousness he was in his apartment at the Conservatory. The staff housing was definitely nicer than the student housing. Not that he ever had any issues with the student housing, but it was kinda small and sharing a room all the time wasn't exactly ideal. 

Slowly he lifted up, the blankets tucked around his shoulders floating down when he did so. His heart stopped. At the foot of his bed was a petite girl, her arms wrapped around her knees.

"Tula! Wait...this isn't the pain killers right? You're here?" 

She pushed up and sat her green hand on his. But she wouldn't make eye contact. 

"Are you okay?" 

She only shrugged in response. Her knuckles were a nasty purple on both hands, but her pale hand had it worse. He needed to get her to an x-ray to make sure nothing was broken. 

"Where'd you go?" He'd need to work up slowly. Anytime anything went wrong he'd have to rebuild her trust again. And clearly he'd fallen back off her "going to talk to this person" list. 

She raised her other hand to point at a vase of flowers on his nightstand. Ocean lilies. Hard to get in this part of the water, but these were clearly freshly picked. Some still had the roots hanging off like she just ripped them out of the ground. "Thank you." 

She nodded at him and slowly, painfully so, looked at him. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. Then she was hugging him. Tightly. Like she was scared he'd disappear if she let go. He did his best to return the hug. 

"Why did you come to the Surface? Like that I mean. Trust me I get wanting to explore but-"

"You're a hero." 

"I...yeah?"

She pulled away, looking at him. "I want to be a hero." 

He felt his fins stand on end. Probably not the response she wanted. 

"I wanted to help..." 

"Oh Minnow." He winced. "Sorry..."

"It's fine." She set her hand gently on his bandaged shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't do this."

"I did." 

Even as a baby she didn't cry much. But now she was positively sobbing. He let her, rubbing her back gently until she calmed down.

"Listen to me Tula. You did not do this. Cricket did. That is not on you." 

She nodded, but in the dark he couldn't tell if she believed him or not. 

"Teach me?"

"Um, I am teaching you Tula." 

"No. Teach me to be a hero."

He blinked at her. What an absolutely terrible idea. 

"Are you sure that's what you want? You saw-"

"Teach me." There was an edge to her voice. The kind that said no matter what La'gaan said, she'd find a way to do this. 

"Yeah. Once I can move both arms though okay?" 

She was hugging him again, not as tightly this time. 

"Now head home before your parents hunt me down okay Chum?" 

That earned him laugh. After a kiss to his forehead she was gone. He fell back onto his pillows. What had he agreed too? He was definitely going to regret this. But that didn't keep the proud smile off his face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reverend Mother Cerea first appeared in Aquaman Vol 8 Issue 8

La'gaan swam up and up and up and eventually he reached the top of Palace. Tucked away in a decorative alcove, was Tula. Her face was buried in her knees, and her nails were dug into her legs. A small stream of blood floated out from under her green hand. Carefully he sat on the roof outside the alcove. 

"Want to talk about it?" 

Slowly she raised her head. The glare sat comfortably on her young face. But that's not what made La'gaan flinch. Her right eye was basically swollen closed, a deep ugly purple fanned out around her face. 

"Your father told me what happened... I'm sure Cerdian feels-"

"Don't." 

He sighed. The way he heard it the two siblings were sparing, and having a good time at that. Until Reverend Mother Cetea showed up. He felt his jaw clench thinking about that woman. So stuck in her own traditions and the "old ways" that she couldn't see the present if it slapped her in her face. Or in this case, if a sea changed 13 year old threw herself at her and was tackled by the Royal guards. 

"I brought you something." He started digging through the bag he'd slug on before heading out to look for the girl. At this point he practically had a go bag ready for when Garth showed up at his door, looking completely exhausted. He pulled out his surprise with as much drama as he could muster, hoping for a laugh or at the very least a reaction. 

Instead she just eyed the prepackaged treats, unresponsive. Which was _odd_. He'd watched these, absolutely awful, snacks pull her out of some pretty bad funks. He lowered them slowly. No reaction. He set the bag down and reached out to untangle her claw from her leg. He winced when she did, but he'd learned enough by now to bring along a first aid kit. He nails were pretty well dug in though. 

"Did you know you were bleeding?" La'gaan carefully moved the sparce scales, the ones that were uncracked at least, back in place and bandaged her leg. 

"No." 

He was doing his best not to frown. Tula picked up on even the slightest discomfort or disappointment and had a bad habit of internalizing it and then lashing out. But he definitely felt one start to fall on his face. Once he'd patched her up he pulled away. She was watching him like a hawk. 

"You know, I've actually met gods younger than the Reverend Mother." He tried again. 

" _Don't._ " 

He felt his shoulders drop. "What can I do?" 

She raised her chin ever so slightly. A new look came over her. Not quite surprise and not quite confusing, but a weird mix of almost both. Slowly she tapped the spot outside of the alcove, next to her. He got the message. Carefully he sat back down. After about an hour she opened up the snacks. Twenty minutes after that she actually offered him some. Probably because she knew he'd say no. 

How someone had developed a "food" that an Atlantean thought was salty, was beyond him. And it wasn't just him. Kaldur actually gagged the first time he tried one. And somehow Tula could eat several bags a day.

"I lost." It was a whisper. It was _less_ than a whisper. But La'gaan heard it. 

"Everyone loses sometimes. And Cerdian has at least 3 years training on you. I promise it's okay." 

She shook her head and went back to the bag of food. 

"What happened? In your words."

"Words are subjective." 

He blinked at that. She wasn't wrong, but he'd always assumed her lack of speech was because of her mother's difficulties with it. Growing up in a house that was half sign language, and half Atlantean she was bound to pick up both afterall. But now he questioned if that was really the reason behind it. 

"I wish I could just show you." She dumped what was left in the bag into her mouth. She was relaxing, but still on edge. Her muscles tense, and ready to bolt if things got too uncomfortable. 

"You don't want people in your head like that." He glanced at her. He'd earned an eyebrow raise, which was something new at least. 

"It's possible?" 

"...um..." It was his turn to sit quietly. 

"Magic?" 

"When did you get so talkative?" He ran a hand down his face. "Technically yeah, I'm sure one could use magic." 

She unfolded herself, sticking her legs out of the alcove and leaning forward. Her black hair falling to the side. "I'm sorry." 

"For what?" He didn't bother to hold back the frown now. She leaned forward and placed a hand on his heart. Looking up at him with one wide eye. "How did...?" He shook his head. "Tula, I appreciate your sympathies." He set his hand over hers. "But I'm here for _you_ , not the other way around." She pulled her hand back. "Are you really upset because you lost a fight with Cerdian?" 

An uncomfortably long moment passed beforeshe even reacted. "No." 

"I know words are subjective. But, do you think you could try?" 

She pursued her lips. And then she sighed, big and dramatic. Her shoulders slumped and her head dropped. Under different circumstances he would have laughed. Instead he reached out and tuffled her hair. 

"I'll try." 

"I appreciate it." 

"...Cerdian was... _mad_ , like furious. But they just...did nothing about it. Floated there and listened to what that _hagfish_ had to say..."

"That's why you attacked her?"

She nodded, but then seemingly remembered that she supposed to use her words. "Yes. But after Cerea left...Cerdian...they yelled at me." She pulled her knees back up. The way her face warped into despair broke his heart. 

"I'm going to hug you. Is that okay?" 

She nodded but didn't unfold herself, so he pulled her in close, all balled up. "I think you scared them. You commited treason technically." She tightened under his grip. "The Reverend Mother is a member of the High Court. There's probably a reason Cerdian didn't say anything." 

"We were having fun. Sparing on our own terms..." She snuggled in closer. "But when she interrupted us, she insisted on us doing it the "proper" way." 

"That sounds about right."

"Cerdian...they didn't hold back...but they were so sad about it..."

"How do you know that?"

She shrugged. Hot tears were mixing with the water close to his chest. 

"It's okay, keep telling me your story." 

"They won. They usual do, but there was no...not mercy but... I'm not sure there is a word. Like they were proving they were a good solider or something. But then Cerea started saying cruel things about _me_." La'gaan couldn't help but note this was the second time she'd left off the Reverend Mother title. He couldn't blame her. "That's when Cerdian started to get mad." 

"And so did you?" 

She nodded again. 

"But then they _yelled_ at me! _Me_!" The betrayal was clear in her voice. La'gaan knew that he couldn't be the one to fix this. Sure he could easily give the Reverend Mother a piece of his mind, having Orin's protection was nice, but that wouldn't fix what had happened. 

"Perhaps you two should talk?"

"...I'm barely talking to you..." 

He couldn't stifle the laugh, and by some luck it made her laugh too. A little bit at least. "That's fair, Chum. But perhaps let them do the talking? Let them explain themself?" 

"Aren't you supposed to teach me how to fight supervillains? Not family therapy..." 

"So you're in a better mood then." He grinned down at her. She was smiling back up at him. Twisting the black eye in a truly ugly way. But at least she was smiling. "I'm sure they are very sorry for yelling. I can't imagine that they aren't." 

She pulled away, stretching her limbs out. He heard a collection of small pops that made him wince. "Okay. I'll find them." 

"Good. I think you'll feel better." 

She looked at him out of the side of her one good eye. "La'gaan?" 

"Hmm?"

"Do you have anymore?" She held up the empty snack bag, a playful grin inching across her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments appreciated and welcome

**Author's Note:**

> Comments appreciated and welcome


End file.
